Scan barcode
lindseylush's review
4.0
Tia Isa has a little sass and a lot of determination. Great family memoir story.
northstar's review
4.0
This is a sweet story about a young girl who figures out a way to help her aunt buy a car. The story touches on family bonds and immigration, but it also highlights the resourcefulness of the child without sounding preachy. My boys really liked it, even though the car is not featured on every page. This book also is available in Spanish.
tashrow's review
4.0
A little girl’s Tia Isa wants to get a car in order to take the family to the beach. She wants one that is the color of the ocean with pointy wings at the back. But Tio Andres laughs at the idea, calling it “ridiculous.” They don’t have much money, but head to a car dealer where they find out they need to save more. So the little girl sets out to help. She stacks fruit at the store, feeds people’s pets, and teaches Spanish. She waits until her money sock is bulging full and then surprises her Tia Isa. Immediately, they run to the car dealer where they find just the right car way in back near the fence.
A story of family and the importance of saving money for your dreams, this book will resonate with children who are saving their money for a large purchase as well as children from families where saving money is difficult but vital. Medina writes with lovely imagery that creates a very vivid reading experience. Readers discover that Tia Isa smells of lemon pies from the bakery where she works, that the car dealer smells of tar, and that work boots resemble ogre shoes.
Munoz’s illustrations depict an urban neighborhood of apartments where neighbors help one another. There is a feeling of safety in the illustrations, offering that rare glimpse in picture books of urban life without urban decay. The illustrations of the family have that same feeling of warmth and belonging.
Dreams, savings, waiting and helping: this book speaks to all of those and ends with a refreshing ocean breeze. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
A story of family and the importance of saving money for your dreams, this book will resonate with children who are saving their money for a large purchase as well as children from families where saving money is difficult but vital. Medina writes with lovely imagery that creates a very vivid reading experience. Readers discover that Tia Isa smells of lemon pies from the bakery where she works, that the car dealer smells of tar, and that work boots resemble ogre shoes.
Munoz’s illustrations depict an urban neighborhood of apartments where neighbors help one another. There is a feeling of safety in the illustrations, offering that rare glimpse in picture books of urban life without urban decay. The illustrations of the family have that same feeling of warmth and belonging.
Dreams, savings, waiting and helping: this book speaks to all of those and ends with a refreshing ocean breeze. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
4.0
Tia Isa wants a car but she does not have enough money. Her niece finds many ways to make money and give it to her aunt. Together the two have enough to buy an old, big car, a car big enough to hold the entire family when they are all reunited again in the United States.
“Tia Isa wants a car.
She tells me after work when she still smells of lemon pies from the bakery.
She is turning the jump rope that’s tied to the fence and I am already up to twenty.
‘Un pisicorre,’ she says, ‘to take us to the beach!’
‘Really? The beach’ I can’t catch my breath.
No one goes far from my block in the summer. But a beach has foamy water that reaches all the places I cannot go.
‘Si, really. Let’s save.’
“Tia Isa wants a car.
She tells me after work when she still smells of lemon pies from the bakery.
She is turning the jump rope that’s tied to the fence and I am already up to twenty.
‘Un pisicorre,’ she says, ‘to take us to the beach!’
‘Really? The beach’ I can’t catch my breath.
No one goes far from my block in the summer. But a beach has foamy water that reaches all the places I cannot go.
‘Si, really. Let’s save.’
More...